About a year ago, as Fitz Johnson walked through a soccer coaches convention exhibit hall, he saw his future: It was a display advertising a new women's soccer league - the Women's Professional Soccer league (WPS) - and he knew Atlanta had to have it.

"The Beat [Atlanta's former professional women's soccer team] ended in 2003, and since then there hasn't been a professional team in Atlanta. I met with the commissioner, I did my due diligence, and we think this league will be a success," says Johnson, whose WPS team is scheduled to begin playing in April 2010.

Johnson's optimism is admirable, considering the current economic conditions and the tepid history of profitable professional women's sports teams. In December, the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) witnessed the financial collapse of four-time champion Houston Comets, an "isolated incident" according to WNBA President Donna Orender, followed by a January announcement that rosters would be trimmed from 13 to 11 players to cut costs. So what makes Johnson, the former CEO of a local family-owned defense-contracting firm, think that his women's soccer franchise might succeed?

The Game Plan
For one, according to Johnson, the Beat didn't fail. The team was part of the Women's United Soccer Association League (WUSA), and the league failed. The league had one ownership, so all of the investors owned all of the teams. And they spent money - lots of money - on a splashy entrance into Atlanta in 2001 with costly television and radio ads. The players were good, and fans loved the Beat. But after three years, says Johnson, the investors were tired of spending the money and the entire league crumpled.

In the new WPS, the teams are franchised and the individual owners operate on their own. The league struck a $10 million deal with sportswear maker PUMA to be the founding partner and official sponsor of the WPS. Johnson estimates the team will have an annual operating budget of between $2 million and $2.5 million, and he anticipates breaking even in three years.

"The emphasis on this new league is tight and conservative budgets. We're focused on longevity. We're building it to last. There won't be a lot of frills, like last time," says Johnson. "Instead of television advertising, we're doing grassroots. We're going out to soccer clubs and the community to find the fans and say, 'Here's a great way to come out and see the best soccer in the world.'"

Johnson plans to market the team to families as an affordable entertainment option, with ticket prices beginning at $12. "Our league will have the best pro players in the world," he says. "These are national players, players from Brazil, the biggest female soccer stars in the world. We're excited to get those folks in here. I think the community will embrace that and take the kids out to have a fun day."

And Atlanta has no shortage of soccer fans. Last year, the Georgia State Soccer Association registered 77,500 players and estimates that there are an additional 35,000 unregistered players out there, with females making up about 40 percent of all players.

The Players
While Atlanta doesn't currently have a women's pro soccer team, the city does have an amateur women's soccer team (the Atlanta Silverbacks Women) and a pro women's basketball team (the Atlanta Dream).

So does Atlanta have the fan base and - more importantly - the sponsorship dollars in this economy to support another women's team?

From a business perspective, Bill Bolen, president and chief operating officer of the Atlanta Dream, believes the franchise model will work much better than the WUSA league, and says Johnson will have the benefit of WUSAs mistakes from which to learn.

"I personally think it's a great addition," says Bolen. "I think there is definitely room for another women sport team. The target market is different than ours; it's a different sport. That's like saying, 'if Atlanta only had the Falcons, would there be room for the Braves?' There was great support for the Atlanta Beat, and I think you'll see a lot of those fans come out and support the new team coming to town."

But other, more visible sports team owners might not agree. Arthur Blank ultimately didn't see room for a men's soccer team here. In October 2008, he put in a bid for a Major Soccer League (MLS) franchise, for a reported $40 million cash, but pulled his bid this past January.

Despite the economic downturn and critics, WPS and Johnson are sticking to their collective guns that this is a different product, with a conservative business model. While Blank's team would have helped to highlight soccer here, "The success of WPS doesn't hinge on whether or not there's a MLS team in Atlanta," says Bolen. Blank's inability to gather the investors for a soccer team doesn't mean there's not a fan base to support a team with a smaller budget. 

And, the reality is, for most people, the business of sports is often about the love of the sport and the team - more so than the love of money, says Laura Fedrigo, general manager of the Atlanta Silverbacks Women's soccer team. The Silverbacks Women have a smaller annual operating budget - around $200,000 to $250,000, more if they go to the playoffs - and are supported by smaller donations from sponsors like Waffle House. They also get by on a lot of trade partnerships.

"It is always challenging to turn a profit in sports," she says. "Our goal at the end of each season is to break even. No one is in women's soccer to make money. Are the owners going to stay invested if they continue to lose money? Probably not. But for sports in general - men's and women's - the only teams that are making real money are teams that go to the Super Bowl. The rest of us are just trying to improve upon numbers every year."

The Silverbacks Women, which went undefeated in their 2008 season, hopes to serve as a feeder team for the new WPS league. "I think it will be a real positive thing," Fedrigo says. "Atlanta is a great market."